An applicant’s level of income is a fundamental factor in their screening process as it proves their ability to afford rent. Many employers will not verify income so the paystub and bank or tax statement statements are vital to our process.

Traditionally, a cosigner has been used when an applicant does not have established credit and/or rental history. Some landlords allow a cosigner is used for someone who has very low income. Rarely is a cosigner used to cover negative rental and/or negative credit.

As many of our clients who own and manage property within the city of Portland know, there is a new policy being proposed that would limit the ways landlords can use criteria such as criminal history, income, and previous negative rental history as a means to deny applicants.

Criminal history is a key aspect of the tenant screening process and at Bemrose Consulting we pride ourselves in finding all charges a potential renter has on their record. We do this by searching every state the applicant has been and, if available, the counties they resided in as well.

More often than we would like, in the screening process, a divide starts to grow between us at Bemrose and our clients. Our responsibility to our clients is to provide as much information as possible about prospective tenants.

Checking an applicant’s criminal history is one of, if not the, most important parts of the screening process. Someone’s criminal record gives insight into their past and if they are not willing to be truthful about it that tells us even more about their character.

In the business of tenant screening not many things are more important than security. A lot of information is shared when someone applies for a property and keeping that information secure is a top priority.

One of the most common issues we face in tenant screening is what applicants don’t take the time to fully and properly fill out their applications. This might seem like something people would be able to figure out but for whatever reason, it absolutely is not.

We like to think of sex offenders as an issue that not many people have to deal with or think about on a daily basis, but unfortunately that is just not the case. The unfortunate truth is that sex offenders live amongst us in greater numbers than most of us would like to believe.

The most common myth surrounding bedbugs is that they come about when people are dirty, so the better your housekeeping, the less likely you are to have bedbugs. This is completely untrue.

With so many employers choosing to utilize third-party verifiers or only verifying through HR, getting a performance reference on an applicant can be hard, bordering on impossible. This is where personal references come into play.

Google up “online background check” and you will find pages of results for sites boasting that they will save you time and money weeding out bad renters or job applicants using national searches. What these sites fail to tell you is what national searches they are using or how they get any of their information.

This is a continuation of our list from last month of tips for making sure your applications get done a fast as possible. While this list is not a guarantee of expediency, it will save you, your applicant and your screening company plenty of wasted time.

In the landlords’ market that Portland has become, finding applicants is not as time consuming a process it has been. Now, the pressure is on the screening process to quickly determine if your applicants will be good renters.

Applicants will lie; it’s just a thing they do. Whether big or small, there are bound to be a few on each application you accept. They lie about their criminal history, their residence history, their income and their credit. But why?

If you are investing in property, then you should likewise invest time in learning how to attract the best tenants. Below are some tips that may help you increase your investment rental property income by $600 or more a year, while also saving you time and aggravation.

Bed Bugs have arrived with a vengeance in the Portland Metro area. Pest management firms specializing in bed bug treatments have seen a dramatic increase in calls and if the experience of other professionals across the nation holds true the problem is only going to get worse.